


some things just make sense and one of those is you and i

by pfirsichtoertchen_momopi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Background Relationships, Feelings Realization, Getting Together, M/M, Minor Character(s), Misunderstandings, Post-Canon, Reunions, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:01:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29593179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pfirsichtoertchen_momopi/pseuds/pfirsichtoertchen_momopi
Summary: from: shoyo 🍊🏐> hey noya-senpai!!> it means libero in russian> did u get a new mark? did u meet a new russian player??Without answering any of Shoyo’s questions, he closes the chat and looks at his best friend."I have no idea what this means."
Relationships: Azumane Asahi & Nishinoya Yuu, Nishinoya Yuu/Yaku Morisuke
Comments: 5
Kudos: 32
Collections: Haikyuu!! Valentine Exchange





	some things just make sense and one of those is you and i

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Esbion](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esbion/gifts).



> Hey Bree!
> 
> Happy belated Valentine's Day <3
> 
> Thank you so much for your prompts, I had a lot of fun with them!  
> I really hope that you will enjoy your gift :)
> 
> Title from "Still into you" by Paramore

Even with travelling the world and meeting hundreds of new people, Noya can’t remember the last time he had gotten a new mark. He still remembers starting high school and getting a bunch of them in a few weeks: Tanaka, Asahi and Kiyoko were all pretty obvious by the end of the year. The small black crow on his ankle only started to make sense when he saw Hinata jump for the first time.  
Between then and now, his small collection of marks grew, most of them easy to recognise and connect. So he wasn’t prepared for Asahi to point at his left arm while he was standing in the middle of their hotel room in Egypt, changing into a new shirt. "Is that a new mark? I can’t remember seeing it before."  


Confused, Noya moves his forearm until he can see what exactly Asahi is talking about.  
Walking closer, Asahi leans down to get a better view of Noyas arm. Together they stare at the new mark, trying to make sense of it.  


After a few seconds Noya says: "I have no idea what this is supposed to be."  
He lifts his hand and traces the black lines on his skin.  


"I think it could be cyrillic maybe?" Asahi squints his eyes, tilting his head.  


"Well, whatever it is, it has to wait for now, because dinner is calling me" without waiting for a reaction, Noya finishes dressing and goes to grab his wallet "Let’s go, I’m starving."

Between sightseeing, having fun, sending updates to their friends, and trying to keep up with the Olympics, they don’t end up talking about the new mark until a few weeks later.  
It’s the middle of the night and they are on an airplane back to France where Asahi is needed for work when his friend taps on the new mark.  
Taking off his headphones, Noya blows his unstyled hair out of his eyes and makes a questioning sound.  


"Want me to ask around at work? Maybe someone can translate it for you."  


Scratching his forehead, Noya shakes his head. "No thanks. I am going to figure it out later."  
Watching him for a few seconds, Asahi nods and scrunches up his jacket to use it as a pillow.  
Noya plays around with his headphones until he is sure that Asahi is asleep before pushing up his left sleeve. He likes to think that he’s already used to the new lines on his skin but he still finds himself tracing them softly again and again.

After landing on European ground they are saying their goodbyes. Asahi is only a few days in Paris, getting buried under work, when he gets a Snap from Noya at the airport. He’s not really surprised about Noya being on the road again because he knows that there are still a few European countries left on his bucket list. What does surprise him is the second Snap he gets. The airplane ticket is not one for Bulgaria or Turkey, like he thought it would be. It’s a one way ticket to Rio.  


They haven’t even been in Europe for a week and Noya is already on the way to South America.  


To get as far away from the cyrillic mark as possible when it’s still stitched into his skin, is what Asahi thinks.  


He sends back a picture of his messy workplace and a "Wish that was me."

Rio is everything Noya expected from Hinata's stories and more. The weather, the food, the people. He can see why Hinata wants to come back. Noya tells him just as much in the first Snap he sends back to Japan.  
It’s early in the evening for him but early morning in Japan so Noya is a bit surprised when it doesn’t even take ten minutes until he gets a video call from his friend.  


"Noya-san! You should have told me about travelling to Brazil, I could have set you up with some of my friends."  


Pushing his sunglasses up into his hair, Noya grins: "It was pretty spontaneous. I just had to get out of Europe. But you can send me a list of restaurants I should check out."  


Hinata is already nodding before he even finishes his request.  


"Yes, of course! I would love to chat some more but I have to go to practice. Are you gonna be okay for today? Do you need anything right now?"  


Noya just laughs the question off and tells him to make him proud at practice. He gets a wide grin as an answer before Shoyo waves and ends the call.  
Putting the phone away, Noya pushes his glasses down onto his nose again and continues his walk to find a place to eat an early dinner.

Travelling alone feels weird after spending almost every hour of the day during the last few weeks with Asahi. Being alone again also means that he can take a deep breath and relax, not being responsible for anyone but himself. 

He meets up with some people Hinata mentioned and between sightseeing, going hiking as well as doing some odd jobs every now and then, he also finds time to go to the beach and watch his new acquaintances play volleyball. It’s not that he doesn’t miss the adrenaline of the game, the feeling of the ball hitting his arms, training until he collapses. But just thinking about going pro made him nervous when he was still in school and that hasn’t changed. He still gets the same feeling of dread at the thought of not being free.  


Shoyo found his freedom in jumping higher and higher to see the other side of the net. Noya spent most of his games staying close to earth, looking up at his teammates flying and reaching out to touch the sky. That feeling is what he’s looking for when he jumps between the countries, leaving one plane just to board a new one two days later. The feeling of total freedom. He thought he was close to grasp it, back in Egypt, feeling on top of the world with his best friend at his side.

Then his new mark appeared and now it feels like he is running away from something that is trying its hardest to catch up with him.  


So whenever he finds himself looking at a game for too long, when it looks like people would ask him if he would like to play, when it feels like his newest mark is trying to suffocate him - he just runs. Runs all over the city. Along the beaches. Tries to outrun a part of himself while knowing that he will never be able to escape.

He’s been in Rio for four weeks and it’s clear that it’s time for him to find a more permanent job if he decides to stay longer.  
Trying to work out his next steps, Noya spends the early evening at the beach again, shoes in one hand and kicking the sand.  
Like always, his feet automatically lead him to one of the countless volleyball games all over the city. After watching the players for a while, he suddenly starts moving when one of the balls flies wildly across the sand.  


Without thinking about it he throws away his shoes, quickly crossing the distance between him and the ball. His arms and hands fit together, he’s stretching them away from his body - and the ball connects with his forearm, right on his newest mark.

Watching the ball fly back to the players, his eyes start to sting and his whole body hurts with how much he has missed volleyball. Not just the game but the feeling of belonging, the knowledge that even when he messes up, someone would be there to make up for his mistake.  


One of the things that made him afraid of playing for another team was the uncertainty if he would find this kind of safety net with new teammates. The absolute certainty Shoyo had in his setters to get the ball to him was not something that came easy to Noya. All the security he had found in his team, in his friends, was forged through fights and tears.  
He only realizes that he has been blinking away tears when a few beach volleyball players are standing around him, the ball he saved for them in the hand of one of the older guys.  


His left forearm, the one with the possibility of a romantic soulmark, still looks slightly red from the impact of the ball.

When he gets back to his room hours later, exhausted, full of bruises and sand in places he never wanted any, the first thing he does is charging his phone.  
He should probably go and shower before doing anything else, but he sits down on his bed instead and opens his chat with Asahi.

> to: asahiii 😇  
>  > i’m coming back to paris  
>  > do u have a bed for me?

Throwing his phone on his bedside table, he wipes away some of the sand he brought with him onto his blanket before finally taking his long awaited shower.

Waking up a few hours later, the first thing he does is check his phone. Just as he expected, he got an answer while sleeping.

> from: asahiii 😇  
>  > of course  
>  > you don’t even have to ask

Smiling, he puts his phone down before rolling over and slipping back to sleep.

It takes a few days for him to find a flight back to France. That gives him enough time to finish a last few delivery jobs, telling his landlord that he’s gonna leave a few days earlier than the six weeks he booked his room and saying goodbye to the people he got to meet.  
He spends his last evening at the beach and when he gets asked to play a volleyball game he says yes.

Asahi is waiting for him at Charles de Gaulle when he finally steps on French ground after more than ten hours in the air and a break in Portugal.  
Noya doesn’t even hesitate before throwing his bag onto the earth and leaping at his best friend. Even after years of not playing volleyball together anymore, Asahi catches him as if they are back in high school and just finished a game with all their friends.  
Throwing his arms around his neck and his legs around his upper body, Noya hangs onto him like a koala, hugging him as close as possible.  
They stay like that for a long time, ignoring all the people around them.

Back in Asahis apartment, they catch up with each other until Noya can’t keep his eyes open anymore. Laughing, Asahi sends him to sleep before returning to work in his home office.  
That’s where Noya finds him almost twelve hours later when he wakes up again. Sitting at his workstation, sleeping in his office chair while using his crossed arms as a pillow.  
Rolling his eyes, he leaves him as he is and goes back to the kitchen to make coffee and eat breakfast.  


When his host wakes up maybe two hours later, Noya already finished off almost all the bananas as well as most of Asahis bread.  


Asahi looks at his friend before opening his fridge, just to close it a second later after realising that the food definitely won’t be enough for the rest of the day.  
Scratching his head he takes the mug that Noya hands him.  
"Looks like we need to go shopping."

They spend the day going grocery shopping and making plans for the next few weeks. Even when his eyes fall onto Noyas newest mark, Asahi never asks any questions, though Noya knows he wants to. That’s the reason why Noya gets ready to talk when they get back home in the evening after eating dinner.  
He’s sitting on the floor in the living room while Asahi lies on the couch, ready for an after dinner nap. Poking the mark on his forearm, he doesn’t look at his friend when he asks: "Cyrillic is like, russian, right?"  


Asahi lifts his head and makes a face: "Russian is not the only language using the cyrillic alphabet. But I guess someone who speaks russian may be able to read it. Maybe. If we’re lucky. I don’t know."  


They are both silent for a second before Noya grabs a pillow next to him and throws it at Asahis face.  


"Wow, that was helpful."  


Hugging the pillow to his chest, Asahi rolls onto his side to look at his best friend.  
"We could ask Hinata if he’s still in contact with that russian guy from Nekoma."

> to: shoyo🍊🏐  
>  > shoyooooo
> 
> from: shoyo🍊🏐  
>  > noya-senpia!!!  
>  > *senpai
> 
> to: shoyo🍊🏐  
>  > how r u?  
>  > everything ok betw u and ur king after the last game?
> 
> from: shoyo🍊🏐  
>  > thx for asking!!!  
>  > tooru and i r good  
>  > we knew what we would get into when we decided to play for different tems!!  
>  > *teams
> 
> to: shoyo🍊🏐  
>  > good!! hope tanaka and the others scared him when they had the talk
> 
> from: shoyo🍊🏐  
>  > tooru said they tried  
>  > but iwaizumi-san is scarier so it didnt work
> 
> to: shoyo🍊🏐  
>  > u really cant count on anyone else anymore  
>  > have to do everything myself
> 
> from: shoyo🍊🏐  
>  > dont worry abt it noya-san  
>  > prtty sure kenma and suga-san still want to talkt o him before he goes back
> 
> to: shoyo🍊🏐  
>  > f  
>  > hope he prepared his will
> 
> from: shoyo🍊🏐  
>  > hes tough!!  
>  > hes gonna survive
> 
> to: shoyo🍊🏐  
>  > lmao well if u say so  
>  > listen  
>  > theres something else I wanna ask  
>  > do u still talk to that russian guy from nekoma?
> 
> from: shoyo🍊🏐  
>  > lev??  
>  > havent talked to him for some time  
>  > but i can ask kenma how to reach him!!  
>  > why do u ask?
> 
> to: shoyo🍊🏐  
>  > [picture]  
>  > i wanna kno if he can tell me what this says
> 
> from: shoyo🍊🏐  
>  > okay!!  
>  > leave it to me
> 
> to: shoyo🍊🏐  
>  > ur the best!!!

> to: kenma 😺  
>  > kenmaaaa!!  
>  > can u give me levs #?
> 
> from: kenma 😺  
>  > why?
> 
> to: kenma 😺  
>  > [picture]  
>  > wanna know what this means

> to: don’t answer  
>  > [picture]  
>  > what does this mean
> 
> from: don’t answer  
>  > KENMA!!  
>  > how r u??  
>  > where did u get this? is taht a new mark?
> 
> to: don’t answer  
>  > stop asking questions  
>  > just answer  
>  > it’s for shoyo
> 
> from: don’t answer  
>  > u kno that i don’t speak russian  
>  > never picked it up
> 
> to: don’t answer  
>  > so you’re still useless
> 
> from: don’t answer  
>  > RUDE!  
>  > but i could ask alisa  
>  > or yaku  
>  > kenma?  
>  > did u block me again?

> to: shoyo  
>  > lev can’t help
> 
> from: shoyo  
>  > oh no :(
> 
> to: shoyo  
>  > sorry sho
> 
> from: shoyo  
>  > its ok!!  
>  > thx for trying

> to: 👿-senpai  
>  > YAKUUU  
>  > YakuYakuYakuYaku
> 
> from: 👿-senpai  
>  > What the fuck do you want Lev
> 
> to: 👿-senpai  
>  > [picture]  
>  > what does this mean??
> 
> from: 👿-senpai  
>  > Jfc Lev. Learn russian  
>  > It means libero  
>  > Why? Whose mark is this?
> 
> to: 👿-senpai  
>  > hinatas!!  
>  > he asked kenma  
>  > who asked me  
>  > and now i asked u
> 
> to: 👿-senpai  
>  > yaku?  
>  > wyd?  
>  > did u also block me
> 
> from: 👿-senpai  
>  > I’m this close to blocking you  
>  > But no, I didn’t  
>  > I talked to Kenma

Noya was prepared to wait a few days until Shoyo got back to him so he was more than surprised when he got an answer only a few hours after his first message to Shoyo.  
He’s out with Asahi enjoying the good weather, when he gets his answer.  
They both look at his phone screen, ice cream in their hands forgotten.

> from: shoyo 🍊🏐  
>  > hey noya-senpai!!  
>  > it means libero in russian  
>  > did u get a new mark? did u meet a new russian player??

Without answering any of Shoyo’s questions, he closes the chat and looks at his best friend.  
"I have no idea what this means."

_(Meanwhile in Russia, on a group call:  
"What do you mean you don’t know if this is Hinata's new mark or not? Kenma, he asked you for help. Yes I know that his whole body is full of marks. But why would he even get my mark?...Is it because I patted his head and told him he did a good job during one of the games? Suga, stop laughing, this is serious, you know this kid collects marks like they are free meat buns!")_

It’s Asahis idea to try and remember when the mark showed up. They know that it happened while they were in Egypt but they can’t remember any Russians.  
Sitting once more in the living room, Asahi plays with a pen while looking at the notes they’ve written down.  


"So we went on the jeep tour that day. We can’t remember if the mark was already there in the morning but we do know that it wasn’t there the day before. What else happened on that day?"  


Noya just shrugs while looking through his phone for any clues. He skips past selfies and pictures from Egypt, skims through chats, just to go back to the pictures.  
Sighing, Asahi also grabs his phone.

It’s silent for a few minutes before Noya groans and throws his head back.  


"All my other marks were so easy. Why is this one giving me so many problems?"  
He turns his head to look up at Asahi. „Do you have any marks like that?“  


Asahi just laughs.  


"Not like this, no. My most difficult mark was probably the one I got from Dateko after we lost. And then the second one after I got through them."  
Taking a short break, he sips on his water, before continuing: "I got a few family members and of course Daichi, Suga and Kiyoko. And you know that I got yours. But never a red one. Do you think this could be a romantic mark? Is this your first romantic one?"  


Noya just throws him a look because they both know that it’s not.  


"Ooooh." Asahi nods. "Kiyoko. Yeah. I forgot."  


Looking down at his lap, Noya twirls his phone between his fingers.  
"Kiyoko was not the only mark that went from red to black. Yours did too."  


They are both silent for a few seconds. Asahi sits up, visibly ringing for words. Watching his best friend getting worked up about this stops being funny after a few moments so Noya just rolls his eyes: "It was years ago and I’m definitely over it so stop worrying."  
Still playing with his phone, he refuses to look up at Asahi.  


"But after seeing Shoyo and Oikawa handle their relationship and knowing how happy Yacchan and Kiyoko-san are… I think it would be nice having someone like that in my corner, you know?"  


He doesn’t say _Having someone in my corner who can catch me when I mess up. Someone who will trust me with their own back, just like you did back in high school._ but Asahi makes a humming noise and it is clear that they both know what type of relationship Noya is talking about.  


Noya still won’t look at his friend but he doesn’t need to. He knows exactly what kind of face Asahi is making right now.  


"I guess that means we just have to work harder to find them. Especially after all the work Hinata and the others went through to help."  


When Noya finally peeks up at him, Asahi smiles just like he knew he would.

They spend the next few days working on Asahis current project. While Asahi was spending most of his days sitting at his desk or talking on the phone, Noya ran errands for him and his French team. Trying to navigate a still mostly unknown city was demanding enough that he didn’t have time to think too much while he slipped between badly parked cars and too fast driving bikes.  


Walking home from delivering an envelope full of designs in Asahis office, he looks through the Snaps he missed the last few days. The newest one, not even thirty minutes old, is a group selfie from Shoyo who is spending his evening with Kageyama and Yachi.  
Sending a selfie back, Noya laughs when he gets a video call.

"Hey heeey, my precious kouhai!"  


Shoyo is grinning bright, one arm around Yachis shoulders, Kageyama in the background looking in the wrong corner of the phone screen.  
"Noya-san! Are you having a nice time in France?"  


Before he can even answer, Hinata already continues talking. It doesn’t take long until Kageyama complains about him monopolising the conversation and before anyone can try and calm them down, they are already rough housing with each other.  
Yachi, who took the phone away before Hinata could accidentally throw it at their friend, just sighs softly before bringing the phone back up and greets him.  


Noya’s smile gets softer when he sees her rubbing her thumb on her middle finger, right over the red - the romantic - mark she shares with Kiyoko. 

He still remembers the time when Tanaka and him tried to convince themselves that one of them shared a romantic mark with their old club manager. While unlikely, they still held onto their dreams until they saw the girls together for the first time.

They didn’t even have to know about the fresh marks to realise how unlikely it would be that one of them would get the chance to date Kiyoko.  


It’s been years and they’ve reached the point where they can laugh about their bad attempts at flirting for a long time.  
He’s just thankful that they were both mature enough that they never ruined their relationship with Yachi because of useless jealousy.

"Hey Yacchan! Having fun at Shoyo’s?"  


She nods and smiles even wider.  
"It’s nice to spend some time together, just us three." Interrupting herself for a second, she starts waving her free hand around "Not that it isn't also fun to spend time with all you others! It’s just...different."  


Laughing, Noya changes the hold on his phone. "It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone that you’re playing favourites." There’s still shouting in the background.  


"But I guess it’s already lively enough, even when it’s just you three."  


Rolling her eyes, Yachi turns back to her old schoolmates. "I should break this up before they destroy something."

After saying goodbye, Noya smiles down at his phone. Seeing his old kouhai like that makes him realise how much he misses them and the time they spend together as a team. It also makes him realise how much he misses playing volleyball with them. 

While he still doesn’t regret not going pro - being free and trying new stuff doesn’t mix well with the strict scheduled plans they are all living after - he can also accept that fully cutting volleyball out of his life was probably a pretty dramatic reaction.  


Thinking back to his last few days in Rio and how much fun he had playing beach volleyball, he makes a mental note to ask Asahi if he would be up for buying a ball to get back into the game.

He just reached the front door of Asahis apartment complex when he sees a few unread messages.

> from: shoyo 🍊🏐  
>  > bakayama distracted me!!  
>  > did u figure out ur russian mark?  
>  > bcs yaku-senpai messaged me abt it  
>  > apparenly he thought that ur mark is mine??

Blinking once, then twice, it takes a few seconds for Noya to process the words on his screen.  
Yaku? Morisuke-kun?  
He hadn’t thought about this name in years.  
Opening the door, he takes one step inside the building and then freezes.  


That wasn’t true. He could even remember the exact moment when he had thought about Morisuke just a few months ago.  


Throwing the already closing door open again, he races down the hallway and up the stairs to Asahi. Before going down this route, he definitely needs his best friend.

One of the best parts of their old volleyball team is how Asahi learned to understand loud and excited screaming people. Because of his sometimes really hectic work days, he could never forget how to do it, even after most of his friends grew calmer over the years. It’s a skill he is really thankful for right now, because otherwise he would have no idea about any of the things Noya had said in the past five minutes he’s been home.  


But he was part of Karasuno during some wild years, so he did understand that apparently Yaku tried to talk to Hinata about Noyas russian mark, which made Noya remember the volleyball final recap they watched in Egypt and how he thought that one specific receive Yaku did was the most beautiful thing he had seen since the first time he saw Shimizu smiling.  


What he does not understand is how Noya was able to forget about his exceedingly gay thoughts but he’s only a designer, neither a therapist nor neurologist, so it’s not his job to understand how brains work.  
Grabbing the water bottle on his desk, Asahi hands it over. While Noya downs the drink, he starts to sum up the information dumb he just received.  


"Let me get this straight. We don’t have time to unpack all of that. But because of Hinatas message and the way your memory works you now think that the mark is for Yaku?"  


Still drinking, Noya nods.  


"And now you want to fly to Russia because while you were running up the stairs, you had enough time to google him and that’s where he’s living and playing volleyball right now."  


Noya nods again.  


"You also messaged Suga, because you remember them being friends."  


Finally finished with the water, Noya puts the bottle down. "Yes."  


Asahi is silent for a second before he says: "You realise that everyone will know about this before the day is over."  
Crossing his arms, Noya grins as wide as possible.  


They are both silent again before Asahi sighs, turns around to grab his laptop and opens Google to find the best way to travel to Ekaterinburg.

_(Meanwhile in Russia_

> _from: Suga-kun  
>  > He knows  
>  > And he is on his way  
>  > So you better get ready_

_After staring at the chat for a moment, Yaku closes his phone and puts it down. Slowly, he lifts his left sleeve until he can trace the crow in flight and the small character for deity inside the crow's claw on the skin of his forearm. He gave up on hoping for this moment years ago and now he feels absolutely overwhelmed.)_

Five days later they are standing across from each other for the first time since their last year in high school. Yaku is wearing jeans and a simple coat instead of one of his usual suits, a beanie on his head and sunglasses on his nose. Noya looks disheveled and exhausted after over twenty hours of travel. Letting his bag fall to the ground, he crosses the last few steps before he throws his arms around someone he didn’t even know was missing from his life.  


(It will take a bit until they are both tucked away in Yakus bed to explore all the soulmarks on their bodies and to compare their stories. Yaku will talk about how his mark was red from the second it showed up on his skin. How Suga told him about who his mark belonged to after seeing it at the trainingscamp and how he put concealer over the small deity sign, because he already realised that the mark was unrequited. Noya will tell him about the red mark he had for Kiyoko and how it went black after he moved on.

They will both laugh about Yaku thinking that it was Hinata who wore his mark while looking at Noyas ankle with the small crow.  


They will both watch in awe how Noyas platonic black mark will turn red while they are holding hands.)

But right now, Yaku breaks the hug to grab the almost forgotten bag on the ground. He’s blushing a bit when he smiles and greets: "Welcome back Yuu."  


And Noya just smiles back brightly.  


"It’s good to be home."

**Author's Note:**

> (Bree, if you're interested in my OiHina and KiyoYachi ideas for this universe, just say the word. I would be more than happy to write something for them.)


End file.
